Vihren (вихрен) - At almost 3000m altitude in November

Following to the long debates and discussions of the General Assembly of UIMLA, it was time to perform something more physical. Our Bulgarian colleagues organized the hike on that Sunday. However, when they announced their plans, I was a bit worried. How could we possibly climb to 2914 meters of altitude at that season. I forgot that Sofia is at the same latitude as Rome... therefore, the climate is definitely different from ours.

First we needed to reach the starting point: the Vihren hut. For that, no real problem since a paved road climbs there. However, it takes quite a long time to go there. Although it looks very close to Bansko, the distance to cover is 15Km.

Starting from the hut, a well marked path climbs in the slopes above it and reaches a junction. To the right climbs the path to the Djamdjev ridge. This is the one that we took.

At first, the path crosses a ground made of granite. Later, well before Djamdjev ridge, the path enters the ground made of marble which makes up the whole peak of Vihren.

After having reached the ridge, the path climbs a section along it before taking to the right, crossing the slopes and reaches the caldron, a depression at the foot of Vihren.

After the Caldron, the path continues to the Premkata... actually meaning the pass. This place is located between Vihren and Kutelo.

The Vihren is then quite close. A last rocky and quite steep section has to be overcome to reach the top. Normally, it is a hike to go up there. Since there was some snow remaining, the difficulty that we were faced with was a bit higher than a simple hike.

The Vihren is the highest peak of Pirin Range and the third highest of the Balkans. Its name was given in the 30's in order to rename most of place's name that were at first Turkish. The former name of Vihren was Eltepe.

Going down on the opposite side was much more easy. As soon as one reaches the pass of Vihrenski Preslap, the path becomes less rocky and one retrieves the first pines (Pinus Mugo) that grow up to 2400m in that region.